sydney luitgaarden

LEAD Marine Debris Technician II

Hometown: Seattle, Washington

Current Residence: Kailua, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi

Sydney knew she wanted to work in marine science and conservation from the early age of 8 when she saw shark week on the discovery channel for the first time. Following her childhood dream, she attended UH Mānoa, completing a marine biology degree. During her undergraduate years, she fell into a very niche and smelly study field of fish guts in cooperation with Cornell University, Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, and Paepae o He’eia. She went on to complete M.Sc. in Marine Science on skipjack tuna diet. Currently Sydney works at NOAA in the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary (PNMS) Program as a Science Operations Coordinator. Fueled by energy drinks and peanut butter chocolate chip sandwiches, she is very stoked to return to PNMS to help clean up the mess humans have made in an ecosystem that can't help itself!